Forest Park News

From Principal Lisa Newlyn

Week 30: April 06 - April 13, 2020 In this issue: Learning From Home Updates Message From Ms. Lizzie 5th Grade Community Care Kits FOFPE Update and Meeting Announcement Dear Parents and Families, I hope you are all well and staying safe as we enter Week Four of #StayHomeSaveLives.  Hard to believe that three weeks has already passed since we sent kids home and began this journey of Learning From Home together.  Staff came back to get teaching resources from their classrooms and added special messages to their windows. If you happen to walk through campus, look for sweet sentiments made for YOU.   Last week was PD and planning time for teachers. It’s important that teachers throughout PPS are able and have access to all the tools available to them, as well as time to work in teams to identify essential learnings as lessons are developed and deployed digitally.  We’ve been learning lots of new digital teaching tools, and perfecting our use of ones we’ve used before. These are all helping us work together from home to get distance learning going in your home.   Learning From Home If you haven’t already, please take a look at two great resources for you and your child: Forest Park Tech Page for Distance Learning is the place to find FPE curated information and links from all our teachers and great information for troubleshooting. PPS Student Portal is the district launch pad for home learning.  And, PPS COVID Page has all the latest updates from PPS.  Can you actually build an airplane while it’s flying?!  Yes, and FPE/PPS is proving it and rocking it.   Check Your Email and Reply Teachers have reached out with email messages to you and your student. Check your emails and take time to read through it with your child.  As a parent, I encourage you to give teachers a quick reply with your child. Students working with Miss Melissa, Ms. Potegal, Ms. B have messages in parent email boxes, too! Instructional Time This week you can expect up to one hour of work time in ELA and Math core subjects work for K-5 students, each day.  What does that look like? Lessons this week are meant to help students practice communicating with their teacher and get back into routines.  No new content is being taught, so if you’re having trouble for any reason, that’s OK. We are not grading assignments and want to help troubleshoot. We are NOT using any video conferencing tools like Zoom or Google Meets or Google Chat.  PPS is prohibiting us from using any digital platform for students K-5 that may allow students to interact, particularly by video, then adult monitoring isn’t 100% available.  We are working on ways kids can connect with each other. Stay tuned!  Look for information from your child’s teacher about their “office hours”.  For example, the 5th grade team is available 10am - 11am each day and will answer email or google classroom chat messages right away.  Each team will determine their schedule and let parents know in their email communications with you.   Device Requests Many of you have asked about borrowing a device from PPS.  You can request a device with this link.  Know that deployment of devices is handled centrally - for sanitation and tracking.  Students 4th - 12th grades get priority. If you need wifi, use the link to request support as well. Troubleshooting Ms. Gardner made a couple quick how-do-we-get-where-we’re-going video(s) for families, with the topics, below with this link: Getting into Clever, then Seesaw or Classroom Finding specific classes within each program Sharing one device between multiple Google accounts Quarter 3 Grades (K-8) PPS is not requiring K-8 teachers to complete report cards for Q3.   At this point, teachers need to provide instruction to students and monitor student progress in terms of mastery of standards.  That doesn't mean they will have to assign traditional letter grades for student work.   Lastly, join me every Tuesday morning @ 9am for my FaceBook Live @PPSForestPark.  Questions can be posted here: https://forms.gle/NbprEXXouzP8i6nt5  I'll also be on Zoom Thursday @6:30pm for the monthly Friends of Forest Park Meeting. Warmly, Lisa Newlyn Principal

From Ms. Lizzie

Hello Forest Park Families, I just want to take a moment to say hello and let you know that the Forest Park community is on my mind and in my heart. I know that we are all navigating many uncertainties and changes, and I want to be sure you know that you can reach out to me anytime if I can be of any support. The best way to reach me at this time is through email (loleary@pps.net) until we confirm the best way to talk by phone or video, but I am setting aside time to be as responsive as possible. I have also updated my counseling website which provides some resources for talking with your child about CoronaVirus, community resource supports, social emotional resources for your students, and a way for your students to check in with me. Students can fill out the form (found here and on the site), or email me directly. I’d love to hear how students are feeling and do what I can to support coping skills from a distance. Social emotional guidance lessons will be provided along with lessons from the other specialists soon, but for now, I just want you to know I am here and hoping you’re all safe and healthy. Take care and don’t forget to breathe! Sincerely, Lizzie O’Leary Forest Park School Counselor loleary@pps.net Forest Park Counseling Website

5th Grade Care Kits

Thank you to all the families that donated hundreds of items for the fifth grade compassion project.   What a great way to help those in need! The items are being donated to Blanchet House which provides food, clothing and housing to people right here in Portland.  Learn more at www.blanchethouse.org.

FOFPE Meeting Invite
Please join Friends of Forest Park Elementary for our monthly meeting on 4/9 at 6:30PM.  You'll get to hear an update from Principal Newlyn and listen in on what else is going on with your parent leadership team and our school.   

Please remember to mute your microphone during the virtual meeting.  Thank you.

Join Zoom Meeting   zoom.us/j/497522155?pwd=U2lvdFdw... (ID: 497522155, password: fnue8d)       Join by phone   (US) +1 253-215-8782 Password:  fnue8d Agenda: 6:30 - Sunita Thaker – Welcome  Eleanor Dolev – Approval of last month’s meeting minutes New Business – Parents are welcome to speak  Principal Newlyn – remote learning update, updated ask for funds for 2020/21 staffing plan, school vandalism, school closure/community use of campus Christie Robinson/Denisa Warden – updated financials, last year’s commitment of $195K got billed as $210,853 (difference of $15,853), updated auction projection, updated commitment for Lisa for next year, update on 5th grade project (poem & pic), update on refunds from cancelled events (auction and spring carnival) Sunita Thaker – Spring Gala – ready to launch for 4/24-5/1, 60 items for sale which includes 15 classroom art projects and excludes sign up parties and teacher experiences, 2021 Auction is set for 2/27/21 Sunita Thaker – Board member changes for next year, process for new board members (nominations/applications due by 6/30).  Meetings to continue over summer via Zoom.  Next Meeting:  Virtual meeting on 5/14/20 at 6:30PM   School Links School Website FOFPE Website Technology Blog

Dear PPS Family,

In response to the continuing COVID-19 health crisis in our state, today Governor Brown and the Oregon Department of Education announced that our school campus doors will not open again for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. We all miss seeing our students in school buildings, but the health and safety of our students, educators, staff and the broader community, remains the highest priority. 

The District is offering a second round of Chromebook device pickup. Even if you did not already fill out a device loan survey, you may still pick up a device. We will begin distribution to high school students on Wednesday, April 8 and then to all students on Thursday, April 9. Please visit www.pps.net/devices for more times and locations.

Dear PPS Parents and Guardians,

We know this is a time of transition as we move from school buildings to home-based distance learning for the duration of this closure. In order to continue to work in similar ways with our students as we did in our buildings, principals, teachers and counselors will need to be able to communicate with you and your students while maintaining safety and privacy for all. Because of this situation, we are partnering with Remind to provide a simple platform for all of us to engage together. 

The disruption to daily life during the coronavirus crisis has hit all corners of society. For students, it has meant not being able to attend school. Staff in the PPS Student Success and Health department have gathered tips to help you help your student cope: